Speaker Series: “All Aboard!” Inside Appalachia’s Santa Train with Don Royston

Date: Tuesday, December 13, 2022

Time: 7:00 p.m. EDT

Cost: Free and open to the public; we encourage all in-person attendees to bring a non-perishable food item for the Bristol Emergency Food Pantry 

In-person: RSVP here

Virtual: LINK here

Join us on Tuesday, December 13 at 7:00pm for an evening with Don Royston a.k.a. Santa Claus from the Appalachia’s Santa Train! Royston will share the program’s history and his memories from his time on the Santa Train over the years.

The train, which is set to make its 80th trip from Pikeville, Kentucky, to Kingsport, Tennessee, on the Saturday before Thanksgiving in celebration of the holiday season, makes 14 stops in Kentucky, Virginia, and Tennessee, distributing more than 15 tons and $300,000 worth of clothing, food, candy, toys, and gifts to thousands of people in the Appalachian region.

This event is free and open to the public, but you will need to register for the Zoom link if you attending virtually. We ask that you RSVP at the link above if you will be joining us in-person. We also encourage all in-person attendees to bring a non-perishable food item for the Bristol Emergency Food Pantry!

About Don Royston

Don Royston was with Dent K. Burk Associates, P.C. from 1974 and a principal from 1982 until 2016 when they merged their firm with Brown Edwards & Company, LLP. He retired from the full-time practice of public accounting in 2018. He is a graduate of Tennessee High in Bristol, Tennessee and East Tennessee State University (ETSU). He now maintains his active CPA license.

Don is a member of Colonial Heights Baptist Church. In addition, he serves in numerous professional andcommunity organizations, including the Appalachian Chapter of TSCPA; the Tennessee Society of CPAs; Kingsport College Foundation, which serves as the advisory committee for ETSU at Kingsport; the Inventor Center of Kingsport; Kingsport Homeless Ministry Inc.; Appalachian Miles for Smiles, Inc.; Kiwanis Club; Tennessee Baptist Association; and Microloans of Belize.

He has been actively involved in the Kingsport Chamber/CSX Transportation Santa Train, playing Santa Claus since 1999 (24 years!). He also supports the Santa Train Scholarship Program.

Don and his wife Vicki (deceased) have two children, Audrey and Rachael, and five grandchildren.